I Can Fix That
by dr pepper upper
Summary: Five times Leonard McCoy said the phrase "I can fix that", one time he wishes he could, and one time he doesn't need to say it at all.


**AN: I dare to be different! This is a five times + 1 + 1. Aha! Take **_**that**_**! I hope you like this little fic (okay, not so little…). Enjoy and review? That last one is optional of course. Just knowing people read my writing is joy enough for me. :] This is dedicated to one of my favorite lines: "I can fix that!" This can be read as slash or just friendship… I love the Bones/Kirk slash, let me tell you that, but I'm not great with writing it, unfortunately. Oh, well… Now, go on. Read!**

* * *

The first time Leonard McCoy says the phrase, "I can fix that!" is the second they step off the shuttle and walk onto the academy grounds.

Upon getting on the shuttle, James T. Kirk had hits his head on a low metal beam, _hard._ He, of course, shakes it off to avoid the chuckles and exclamations of "nice one" or "can you _read?_" and had is distracted from his pain upon meeting the one and only Leonard McCoy. The man is oddly refreshing, even though he explains ways that they can potentially die while making the journey to the academy.

Hell, at least he isn't preaching to him about his dad or getting all up in his face. At least Jim isn't getting the shit beat out of him, like he _normally_ does upon meeting new people. He chuckles dryly as he remembers his newly dubbed "best friend _forever_", Cupcake, the big cadet that had messed up Jim's face a bit. Needless to say, he just isn't exactly a people person. He makes way too many smartass remarks. McCoy takes those remarks that are being thrown at him by Jim during their journey in stride, only laughing sarcastically and taking a swig from his flask.

_**Damn**__, this guy is awesome,_ Jim thinks, grinning from ear to ear as McCoy takes yet _another _swig of his drink. The little bottle is passed between the two of them and needless to say, Jim is sufficiently entertained the whole time. "Ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is m'bones."

Bones.

_Awesome._

Jim has to admit, he is almost sorry when the shuttle lands. He and 'Bones' as he decides to affectionately name the doctor step off together. Jim is mildly surprised that Bones doesn't drop to the ground and kiss it. He squints against the light, groaning as an oncoming headache suddenly hits him in full swing. He raises a hand to his already battered face and rubs at the bump that has formed from that damn beam. He stands there for a moment, wincing and frankly looking quite pathetic. He thinks Bones had left to get his dorm room and get settled in or whatever, but he feels a hand clap on his shoulder.

"Looks like you got one hell of a bump there, kid. I can fix that." Right. He's a doctor. Jim starts to protest, but he is silenced when Bones fixes him with a glare.

"Yeah, yeah. Fine." Instead of walking off like he thinks they were going to, Bones pulls out what looks like a mini-first aid kit. At Jim's raised eyebrow, Bones bristles.

"Gotta be prepared, kid! Anything can happen at any time. Y'aren't gonna catch _me_ by surprise." Jim hates doctors of any kind. He is too stubborn and full of pride to go and see one because of something he thinks was insignificant. Of course, it would later turn out that anything he sees as small is really a big deal. James T. Kirk has cheated death more times than he can count on one hand already.

However, as the hypo jabs into his neck quickly, but painfully, and the pain is gone in a few minutes, Jim kind of _maybe_ thinks that this doctor wasn't _too_ bad.

* * *

The second time he says that phrase; it's in their first year in the academy. Leonard quickly found out that with Jim, old habits don't just die hard. They _never _die. He's kind of gotten used to being startled awake by loud knocking on his door.

His roommate isn't too happy about it, and to be honest, neither is Leonard. That's why he tries to ignore the pounding on the door because there's a big exam the next day and he doesn't want any distractions. Jim is a distraction. His most frequent patient, but a very distracting... Distraction. When Jim realizes that Bones isn't intending to open up, he begins to plead.

"Bones! Bones please open up. I need help. C'mon, Bones," he shouts through the door and Leonard can almost imagine Jim pressed up against the door. _Damn, he's probably bleeding all over the damn thing. I'm going to get cops on my ass because that damn kid has the nerve to bleed all over the door and make it look like I've murdered someone!_ He sighed and before Jim can start screaming at him, he gets up, pulls on some pants and just leaving himself shirtless before going to open the door. Jim's hand is raised to knock again and Leonard sucks in a breath that sounds like a hiss.

"Damn it, Jim! What the _hell_?" He steps out of his room and quietly shuts the door. He grabs his drunk, stumbling patient by the arm and starts to drag him away. "What did you _do_? You look like shit," he informs Jim who just laughs humorlessly, stumbling along behind his friend. It's really, really late and all Leonard wants to do is _sleep_. His hand is almost crushing Jim's wrist and he doesn't exactly notice it until Jim hisses and tries to jerk away from his grip. "Stop it, Jim! We're going to get you cleaned up, put back in your room and then I am going to _sleep_ and you are _not_ going to bother me again!"

He's really tired of this. "Kid, I'm tired of this. You gotta clean up your Goddamn act." They're at the infirmary now and finally Bones lets go of Jim's wrist, shoving him towards the bed and gathering the equipment he needs to clean the kid off and send him on his way. "What'd you do _this_ time?"

But the kid is too drunk to really form coherent sentences. "Got inna fight. Sayin' things…" Bones rolls his eyes and moves towards Jim.

"Where does it hurt?" He watches as Jim holds up a limp wrist, the one that Leonard had gripped so tightly when he was dragging the kid there. Bones winces just a little and scans the wrist and purses his lips. "It's broken," he says and watches Jim's face crumble as he cradles the injured wrist to his chest. Bones sighs, runs a hand through his messed up hair. "I can fix that, Jim," he says, and he does.

* * *

There are several other instances that Leonard utters that phrase, but one of the most memorable is the time that Jim is _royally_ screwed over.

It's a year after that last time and the routine is getting Bones more and more pissed off each time it happens. He doesn't understand _what_ goes on with the kid that makes him _want _to get the shit beat out of him. He has never gotten an answer out of the kid but damn it, he _intends _to, because he's not getting enough sleep and he's so tired that he passed out in class the other day. He is going to give Jim a piece of his mind when the opportunity arises.

"BONES!" His voice is strained, like he's struggling to get the words out.

_Well, hello Mr. Opportunity. Knocking again?_

His roommate is less than pleased. He's hissing curse words at Bones and then shouting at Jim and Bones feels like he's going to get sick. "Shut up, SHUT UP," he orders and thankfully both of the men go quiet. Leonard has taken to wearing pants when he goes to sleep just because of this reason. He gets up, stalks to the door and yanks it open with much more force than necessary. "Jim," he says levelly and he watches in satisfaction as Jim flinches. Bones usually yells bloody murder when he's pissed off. It's worse if he's cool and calm, because they all know it's just the calm before the tsunami.

However, the storm is delayed when Bones looks, really _looks_ at Jim Kirk. Something is wrong, very wrong, because not only is he beaten bloody, he's crying. Leonard has never seen Jim cry and it throws him through a loop. His left eye is swollen shit and his clothes are torn and frankly, he looks like he's going to fall over on the spot. "Jim!" Bones grabs him before he can hit the ground and drags him into the room, turning on the lights and earning yells from his roommate. "Find somewhere else to sleep," he barks sharply and is surprised when his roommate complies.

He lays Jim on the bed. He's barely breathing. Leonard swears loudly and is a blur of movement as he darts around the room to grab his supplies. He kneels beside his bed and gets to work immediately, jabbing the much-hated needle into Jim Kirk's neck, hoping to save him. "I can fix this. I can fix this!" He's pushing on Jim's chest to get him to keep breathing so that the medicine can move through his body and clear out what is blocking his airways. He's already got a trashcan ready, just in case, so he's not really surprised when Jim finally coughs up what he was choking on. Bones pulled the trashcan away from Jim when he's done and stares at the dark red substance that is now leaking from Jim's mouth.

His neck is already turning black, purple, and blue and Bones wants to just scream. It's almost like the kid is _trying_ to get himself killed. He sets himself to work, stripping Jim down to survey the rest of the damage. "Damn it, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a mind reader. Why are you doing this to yourself, kid?" His whole body is a mess and it takes Bones _hours_ to clean the wounds and stitch and bandage the damage. He stays awake, though, staring at the younger man until he finally wakes up.

Jim looks over at Bones, stationed stiffly at his bedside and does the unthinkable. He fucking _grins_.

Leonard snaps.

"What the _hell_, Kirk? What are you _doing_ to yourself? You look like a group of klingons mauled you! What are you thinking, huh? You're going to get yourself _killed!_ You're so damn lucky I'm a miracle worker, kid. You would be _dead_ if it wasn't for me!" Oh, no. He's not even remotely through. Jim's a good guy when he's not waking Leonard up in the middle of the night with his medical emergencies. The two have grown quite close, really, but McCoy is _very_ pissed. "I'm not getting any sleep because of you. Do you know how hard that is? I'm _trying_ to work my way up to becoming a CMO, Jim! I can't _do_ that if you keep _doing_ this!" Jim was just staring at him, clear blue eyes burning into him, silently pleading for forgiveness.

"I'm worried about you, kid. What if one day I'm not here to help you? What _then_, huh?"

"Bones, you wouldn't…"

"Yeah? How the hell do _you_ know if I won't be here? Sometimes, kid, I think you _deserve_ to be abandoned. You bring this on yourself. You bring this on me. You're dragging me into it and I sure as hell don't appreciate it. Good _God_, man, I demand an explanation from you!"

There was a long, pregnant pause.

"It's my birthday." Jim says quietly. "I go out and get _really_ shit-faced on my birthday. Someone said something about… About him… I lost it. I'm… I'm _sorry_, Bones, but you're the only one I have left."

There was silence after that, and Jim's breathing settled into a nice, slow pace that let Leonard know he was asleep. He was reluctant to get some sleep, so he just stayed sitting on the ground by his own bed, leaning his oh-so tired head on the mattress and just staring at Jim Kirk. _The kid doesn't think of the day as his birthday, he thinks of it as his father's death day._

"I can fix that. I _can_ fix that." Suddenly, Bones isn't talking about anything to do with medical problems.

* * *

The fourth time is more comical than anything. Jim and Bones become roommates after that last big scare and suddenly Jim is coming back to the dorm a little earlier each night and the injuries sustained are lessening. It seems as though Bones _finally_ got through his thick skull. It's been three years since he met Jim and he knows that his life will never be the same because of it. He's cocky, he's rude and he's got an ego a mile wide but he's Bones' best friend and there's no way in hell he's leaving the kid now, even when he does something so inexplicably _stupid_ that Bones just wants to slap some common sense into him.

Seriously, the kid might be a genius but he lacks in common sense. Bones has got _plenty _of that and usually tries to project it to his friend. "One day, I _will_ find a way to bottle up common sense and then I _will_ inject a whole damn _barrel_ of it into you, Jim," he constantly warns. The kid just laughs at him, but secretly Bones is kind of serious. Jim _really_ needs it.

It is obvious, especially the night that the fire alarms go blaring off. Leonard sits up, ramrod straight and scrambles out of bed. He immediately looks to Jim's bed, intent on waking him up (because the kid can sleep through _anything_) but then he realizes that Jim isn't there. He groans, runs a hand through his hair and bolts out the door. Everything seems to be under control, though there is black smoke coming out of one of the labs. When he asks someone what exactly happened, he feels stupid that he didn't think of it. "Some idiot tried to make some food in the lab. Nearly burned the whole thing down." Bones sighed deeply. He knows who it is without even having to ask.

_That's not just __**some**__ idiot, pal. That's __**my**__ idiot._

Upon striding into the lab, the first thing he does is to slap Jim upside the head. The second thing he does is ask him what the hell he is doing (as per usual). The answer to that is silently conveyed by Jim's little nod, steering Bones' gaze to a pan that might just _possibly_ have something that resembled burnt to the crisp cookies on it. The next thing he does is to examine Jim, discovering the severe burns on the palms of his hands. When questioned, Jim blushes furiously and muttered, "The pan was _really_ hot."

"You're such a mess, kid."

"Yeah, a _hot_ mess."

"I'm just glad you didn't get the shit beat out of you _again_. Why did you grab the hot pan in the first place?"

"I kind of fell asleep and the, err… Cookies were burning. So, I just grabbed the pan and it was hot…" Bones finishes bandaging his hands and takes in the sad look in Jim Kirk's eyes.

"Why the hell were you up at two in the morning baking _cookies_?" There's a long pause.

"I was hungry…" _Typical_. Except, it really wasn't typical. Nothing about James Kirk was typical.

"Why do you look like someone just ripped up your teddy bear?"

"… I was just really in the mood for cookies, Bones." Okay, so, it was common knowledge that when Jim looked like _that_, with his head down and his eyes sad and frowning, Leonard McCoy can never say no. He sighs again.

"Okay. Okay. I can fix that."

"_You're_ going to make _cookies?_"

"Damn it, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a chef! Just come with me." That was how they end up in a local bakery, eating cookies and a few other treats at three o'clock in the morning. Without question, Jim is his best friend. Why else would he be sitting there? As he watches Jim munch happily on a chocolate chip cookie, Leonard doesn't know if he should be laughing or crying.

* * *

It's the fifth time the phrase reappears that Bones finally realizes just how deep he's in with Jim.

He's trying desperately to just walk away from Jim, go to the shuttle he needs to be in and not look back. The problem is that Bones _knows_ Jim too well. He _knows_ the exact face he's making right now and just picturing it in his head makes him curse aloud. How someone can make a face like they've just watched someone kick their puppy off a cliff and run over their favorite cat in the same instant, Bones will never know. Jim can do it, though, and Bones suddenly has a mini-epiphany because he realizes it actually is _hurting_ him to think of Jim being stranded at the academy.

_I can fix that._

He stops walking and sighs at himself. Why the hell had he allowed himself to get close to _James Kirk_? It was like a death wish. "Damn it!" He grumbles and turns on his heel, striding back over to his friend and pulling him away. He can't believe he's about to do this for Jim, but there was _no_ way Leonard McCoy could leave someone with such a dejected face just standing there. So, he puts on his gruff façade and plunges a vaccine into Jim's neck, not thinking about the consequences.

He's basically dragging Jim along with him the whole way and only sighs in relief when he's sedated the kid. "Unbelievable," he mutters, the words directed to himself and not the now unconscious Jim. He draws the curtains and waits for him to wake up. When he does, Bones' self-proclaimed 'fool proof' plan veers off horribly.

So. It turns out Jim's deathly allergic to that vaccine. Go. Fucking. Figure.

And then he's chasing the kid around, medical case in one hand and his other hand trying to grab Jim and make him stand still. Each time he can get close to him, he's jabbing a needle in his neck which makes Jim just run that much faster. He only stops when he finds Uhura and _then_, of course, he gets numb tongue.

"Numb tongue?" Jim spits out around that damn tongue and Bones is rummaging around in his case desperately.

"I can fix that!"

He may have found a way to fix Jim's problem, get him smuggled aboard and then saved his life with many jabs to the neck, but he has inadvertently given the crew of the _Enterprise_ a problem.

A problem named James T. Kirk.

* * *

There was one time Bones only _wished_ he could say 'I can fix that' to Jim.

He just stands back as the green-blooded hobgoblin and Jim yell back and forth. It's true that Spock's idea is logical, but in his gut he knows that Jim is right. Jim is always right when it comes to situations like the one at present. Bones is convinced that Spock has just been _waiting_ for a reason to kick Jim off the ship and now is his chance. Being the _logical_ being he is, Spock takes it.

Bones is trying not to shake in anger as he watches Jim being dragged off. A surge of hope fills him when the kid fights back only to be knocked out by just a little pinch on his shoulder. Bones is stunned into silence. "Get him off this ship." Those are five words that _no one_ should say when concerning James Kirk.

Sending Jim off the ship and onto some ice planet is probably the _dumbest_ thing anyone could ever have done. He was fuming inside, hands clenched at his sides. _He's going to get himself into trouble. Danger is going to follow him and I won't be there to fix it. I really __**hate**__ Spock._

He makes his opinion clear to the Vulcan when he is taken aside to speak.

"Back home we got a sayin'. If you wanna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prize stallion behind."

"An odd metaphor, doctor, since a stallion must first be broken in order to reach its full potential."

Doctor McCoy has never wanted to kill someone before that moment, except for Jim, of course. He's pretty sure, had the new captain not walked away when he had, Bones would have surely jumped him.

* * *

Then there's one time that Bones doesn't have to say anything at all.

It's all over. They won the battle; they took out the Romulans that had been trying to desperately to kill them. Everyone on the _Enterprise_ is exhausted and even the ship itself is exhausted. They're trekking back to Earth and Bones could not be happier.

Well, okay, he _could_. The only thing he has to complain about is an infirmary full of injured crewmembers and one very distant best friend. The patients he can handle just fine. Jim hasn't spoken to him in three days, since the realization that it was all over finally hit him. He's exhausted; Leonard can see that with ease. He sees it in the way his captain limps around the ship. He can see it in the way his grin isn't quite as cocky as it was before.

Bones tried to talk to Jim ten times in three days to no avail. He was impatient and wanting to help and wanting to be able to say 'I can fix that' to his best friend because he knows he _can_ fix whatever Jim needs to be fixed. Whether it's a broken finger or a broken spirit, Bones is going to do all he can to help. Jim has earned that. He is already shaping out to be an extraordinary captain and Bones feels honored to be in the same ship. Suddenly, Jim is 'Captain' and not Jim because Jim would have already come to Bones to drink off his troubles or get something patched up, just to listen to his friend yell at him for being so _stupid._

Bones thinks that Jim is trying to avoid him. He gives up on trying to chase the captain down because every time he gets close, Jim is called away or makes some excuse and off he goes, leaving Bones in the dust. He can't help but feel a little hurt.

All that hurt goes away the second that Bones hears a soft knock on his door. Since he met Jim, he's programmed himself to be an extremely light sleeper so that he can wake up at the first pound on the door when Jim needs him to save his life or take him out for cookies at three A.M. This is no different because when Bones begrudgingly gets up and opens the door, there's Jim standing there with his eyes averted. Bones can see the red rims, however, and without a word, he takes Jim into his room and sits him on the bed.

There are no words shared that night. All they do is just sit there and stare at something, anything, because sometimes James Kirk doesn't make sense. Most of the time he's chatty and annoying and it would be adorable if it didn't get on Bones' nerves all the time. Right now, though, he can feel the silent plea for no words, and knows he only just needs to _be_ there for his friend.

It takes Bones a few hours to notice that Jim is actually crying. He's making no sound, but the tears are just slowly sliding down his bruised, battered face.

It takes him an hour longer to get enough courage to just wrap his arms around Jim's very still body.

It takes two seconds for Jim to hug him back.

All the nights swearing 'I can fix that, I can fix that' come down to this one moment. He realizes that he _has_ fixed 'that'. He _has_ fixed Jim. While he knows his work is done, he knows he won't stop because Jim is his best friend, because Bones loves him and because he truly believes Jim needs him.

And in all honesty, Leonard "Bones" McCoy needs Jim, too. Jim sniffles just a little, ending their hours of silence.

"Damn it, Jim. I'm a doctor, not a tissue."

The punch Bones gets is totally worth it when he hears Jim laugh.


End file.
